David...www.targetbuddy.com/ Look that up and you'll see the commercially made plug cutter. A friend and I are wanting a plug cutter and want the diameter to be larger. I made a prototype out of aluminum 4 3/4" and everything works except it won't cut into the grass easily. It's not stainless and it should be, and the wall thickness is more than it should be. I did taper and sharpen the end that digs as well as putting some serrations in the digging end. IT doesn't cut into the ground worth a darn. I would have to literally put foot stomping pegs on it, working it like a spade shovel, to get it into the ground. You certainly aren't going to be on your knees and push it into the ground and make a cut.
I have a theory about why this is. When you dig with a lesche or predator there is a sharp edge going into the grass and the 'footprint' of the digger is equal to the width of the blade X's the thickness of the blade. Using the same formula on the plug cutter, the footprint is equal to the circumference of the plug cutter times the wall thickness. I am thinking that a 5" plug cutter, with a wall thickness strong enough to handle the pressure of digging, Will end up having a 'footprint' significantly greater than the Predator or Lesche. Rough calculations rounded indicate that with a digging tool you are pushing something roughly 2" wide into the ground while pushing the plug cutter into the ground you will have 15" of material that needs to penetrate.
I hope others will tune in and present their theory or experiences making a plug cutter with a larger diameter. I now have 5" stainless tubing with a 3/32 wall thickness. I am hesitant to continue building this potentially larger plug cutter as I still think, no matter how sharp, it will take foot stomping pressure to get it into the ground. I don't think foot stomping a cutter is practical. Regards...Jim
